See link for brief tutorial on Morphic Resonace.http://www.entelechyjournal.com/rupertsheldrake.html
There have been a number of attempts to approve/disprove the theory, including a cash prize that was awarded for a test that proved the theory. The following paragraphs describe a simpler test involving crossword puzzles (quotes are Sheldrake's).
"The hypothesis (of Morphic Resonance) also applies to human beings. It should be getting easier for children to solve or play video games of a particular kind just because so many have learned them . . . or for people to learn new sports, new skills like windsurfing. In the human realm I am suggesting that what we learn is facilitated by morphic resonance from all those who have learned it before.
This is the area where the theory has been tested most extensively. Some of the first experiments were done in response to an international competition organized by the Tarrytown group in New York, sponsored by Bob Schwartz. The Tarrytown group offered prizes—twenty-thousand dollars in prizes—for the best tests of the morphic resonance theory, which could either support or go against it. The results were very interesting. There were some very good experiments done in human psychology; these are summarized in my book, The Presence of the Past.
This effort was preceded by a competition in the British magazine, Scientist, which offered a more modest prize for suggestions of inexpensive ways of testing the theory. Space does not allow summarizing all the work that is happening at present. I will just mention one experiment done recently. It is not, in fact, the best experiment, but it is the easiest to explain. This was done with crossword puzzles in the psychology department at Nottingham University. The young woman who did it, Monica England, reasoned as follows: If morphic resonance is happening, it should be easier to do today's newspaper crossword puzzle tomorrow than it would have been yesterday.
So we managed to persuade a London newspaper, The Evening Standard, to supply its crossword puzzle in advance for the purpose of this experiment. Students were tested in Nottingham the day before and the day after the crossword was published in London. They were also tested with a control crossword which was not published during that period. This of course involved testing different groups of students before and after. The control crossword gave a measure of each individual's ability to do crossword puzzles of that kind.
It turned out that students' performances on the test crossword did indeed improve by about 25 percent after it had been published, compared with the control crossword. This result is statistically significant and is, of course, very interesting."
Note: BTW this implies that someone who does the daily crossword later in the day rather than earlier in the morning will perform better/faster since a very large number of others will have already attempted/completed the crossword. Impress your friends! :-)
Edits: 05/26/07 05/26/07 05/26/07
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Topic - Morphic Resonance, brief tutorial and possible proof - geoffkait 05:57:24 05/26/07 (57)
- I'm now developing Audiophile Grade Morphic Resonance Dampers. Hopefully you can sell them for me Kait .nt - AJinFLA 11:31:33 05/28/07 (0)
- it would be preposterous and presumptuous for skeptics.... - tunenut 13:00:30 05/27/07 (2)
- I have to take issue with a few of your points - Analog Scott 15:10:43 05/27/07 (1)
- too much unsavory interference... - tunenut 12:53:31 05/29/07 (0)
- RE: Morphic Resonance, brief tutorial and possible proof - andy19191 12:46:22 05/27/07 (18)
- Perhaps you should read Sheldrake's books... - mkuller 15:49:08 05/27/07 (0)
- RE: Morphic Resonance, brief tutorial and possible proof - geoffkait 13:25:19 05/27/07 (4)
- RE: Morphic Resonance, brief tutorial and possible proof - andy19191 14:00:26 05/27/07 (2)
- RE: Morphic Resonance, brief tutorial and possible proof - geoffkait 14:13:34 05/27/07 (1)
- Yes, as a matter of fact... - Wellfed 14:25:38 05/27/07 (0)
- Now why would you go and say a thing like that?... - Wellfed 13:41:14 05/27/07 (0)
- I think you ought to give serious thought to... - Wellfed 13:07:42 05/27/07 (11)
- And they'd *love* him over there. nt - clarkjohnsen 13:24:05 05/27/07 (6)
- RE: And they'd *love* him over there. nt - andy19191 13:56:46 05/27/07 (5)
- nah... he's plenty daft (nt) - SF tech 18:53:55 05/29/07 (3)
- The word is naïve... - Wellfed 22:11:39 05/29/07 (2)
- RE: The word is naïve... - andy19191 23:33:06 05/29/07 (1)
- Not only am I ineligible by rule... - Wellfed 09:38:49 05/30/07 (0)
- And what makes me chopped liver?... - Wellfed 14:07:39 05/27/07 (0)
- RE: I think you ought to give serious thought to... - andy19191 13:19:10 05/27/07 (3)
- Would you take any notice... - Wellfed 13:29:45 05/27/07 (2)
- RE: Would you take any notice... - andy19191 14:06:28 05/27/07 (1)
- Curiously enough... - Wellfed 14:12:36 05/27/07 (0)
- Great topic! BTW, I'm a firm believer, a practitioner in fact! - bjh 10:27:00 05/27/07 (1)
- I'm a little surprised - geoffkait 11:19:41 05/27/07 (0)
- RE: Morphic Resonance, brief tutorial and possible proof - May Belt 02:17:58 05/27/07 (29)
- In my opinion, the Holy Bible is the only fountain of knowledge... - Wellfed 12:42:24 05/27/07 (28)
- You almost drew a foul - geoffkait 08:38:54 05/30/07 (3)
- The kingdom of God has come near you... - Wellfed 20:20:11 05/30/07 (2)
- Not sure what yer driving at... - geoffkait 07:45:06 05/31/07 (1)
- That was Jesus' method of saying... - Wellfed 08:28:38 05/31/07 (0)
- May was talking about "inconsistencies in nature", not "human nature" itself. Besides... - clarkjohnsen 13:27:21 05/27/07 (23)
- Clark, just what "inconsistencies" have you found in nature? (nt) - SF tech 18:59:16 05/29/07 (19)
- Then be sure to see May Belt's post below. nt - clarkjohnsen 08:10:24 05/31/07 (0)
- That was May's usage, not mine. Me, I would have said "anomalies". nt - clarkjohnsen 08:24:29 05/30/07 (17)
- RE: That was May's usage, not mine. Me, I would have said "anomalies". nt - May Belt 02:01:37 05/31/07 (16)
- "The world of audio " is not separate from human interaction. - soulfood 09:37:37 06/01/07 (0)
- "ALL is NOT known and that is where the struggle is taking place " - SF tech 09:05:47 05/31/07 (14)
- RE: "ALL is NOT known and that is where the struggle is taking place " - May Belt 06:58:54 06/01/07 (1)
- The crux of the problem is this... - SF tech 10:51:32 06/01/07 (0)
- Quit being so bossy... - Wellfed 14:29:11 05/31/07 (11)
- Funny... my girlfriend says that to me all the time! - SF tech 14:58:40 05/31/07 (10)
- One piece of advice - kerr 09:47:41 06/01/07 (1)
- Point taken! :-o (nt) - SF tech 10:53:26 06/01/07 (0)
- RE: Funny... my girlfriend says that to me all the time! - Posy Rorer 08:13:22 06/01/07 (7)
- Thanks for the insight, knucklehead... - SF tech 10:11:46 06/01/07 (6)
- RE: Thanks for the insight, knucklehead... - Posy Rorer 11:05:15 06/02/07 (5)
- In case you haven't noticed... - SF tech 13:28:31 06/02/07 (4)
- Well it's kind of hard to notice.... - Posy Rorer 20:10:34 06/02/07 (0)
- Bye. [nt] - Wellfed 15:45:35 06/02/07 (2)
- You going somewhere? (nt) - SF tech 15:53:09 06/02/07 (1)
- No, but I was under the impression... - Wellfed 20:55:36 06/02/07 (0)
- I wasn't equating or linking the two subjects together,,, - Wellfed 13:39:34 05/27/07 (2)
- Ah! You were *supplementing* her remarks. nt - clarkjohnsen 13:42:01 05/27/07 (1)
- It was more like Déjà Vue all over again. [nt] - Wellfed 13:47:11 05/27/07 (0)
- How about pets who know when their owners are heading home? ;-) nt - clarkjohnsen 12:08:12 05/26/07 (1)
- Or people who look at the other drivers staring at them...(nt) - mkuller 13:42:21 05/26/07 (0)